Americans' confidence in air travel and the federal agencies tasked with maintaining air safety has slipped a little from last year, following a recent crash in Washington, according to a new poll, but most still believe air transportation is generally safe.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 64% of U.S. adults say plane travel is “very safe” or “somewhat safe.” That's down slightly from last year, when 71% said that. About 2 in 10 U.S. adults now say air transportation is very or somewhat unsafe, up from 12% in 2024.
Faith in government agencies' ability to ensure safe air travel dipped as well. Just over half of U.S. adults have “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” of confidence in federal government agencies to maintain air safety, down slightly from about 6 in 10 last year.
The poll was conducted Feb. 6-10, shortly after the Jan. 30 collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter in Washington but before a Delta jet flipped on its roof while landing in Toronto. The Washington collision, which killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, was the country’s deadliest aviation disaster since 2001. The decline in confidence, while small, suggests that the event may have rattled some Americans. The 2024 poll was conducted after another incident that raised questions about the safety of air travel, in which a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines jetliner above Oregon, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
A Maple Plain, Minnesota man who was on that Delta flight that crash-landed in Toronto on Monday and shared some about the harrowing experience. Matt Cunningham tells WCCO-TV that he was sitting in a window seat, about eight rows from the exit at the front end of the plane.
"There was some shouting back and forth, I saw somebody opening the doors," Cunningham explains. "You know, 'we need to get off this plane'. The smell of jet fuel became very strong. We could see jet fuel going over the windows, pooling up. Seeing the videos today of the fireball we landed in, it just seems inconceivable that we weren't on fire."
Cunningham says a passenger next to him helped get him get his seatbelt off.
People on board the plane took cell phone video, recording Michael Braunschweig helping out other passengers. Braunschweig is an employee of Twin Cities based Starkey Hearing, and said in a statement that he is grateful all fellow passengers and crew are safe. He adds he was surprised to see that he had been captured on video helping people out of the plane and said he is still processing this experience and asking for "privacy for myself and my family.”
The CEO of Starkey Hearing confirmed that there were two employees on board that flight and that both are safe and getting the care they need. 21 of the 80 people onboard were hurt, two remain hospitalized.
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Overall, Americans think traveling by plane is about as safe as walking or taking a car. About two-thirds say either walking or driving are safe forms of transportation. Only about half of U.S. adults say a local subway, metro or light rail system is safe, in line with 2024.
After the Washington crash, President Donald Trump, a Republican, blamed federal diversity and inclusion promotion efforts and reassured Americans that it is safe to fly. That may help explain why Democrats and independents, but not Republicans, have seen a drop in trust.
Independents' belief that plane travel is safe fell substantially, from about 6 in 10 calling it safe last year to about 4 in 10 now. About 7 in 10 Democrats say plane travel is safe, down slightly from about three-quarters in 2024. Republicans have not changed their views about air travel being safe.
Democrats and independents also have less faith in the government's ability to ensure air safety than they did four years ago. The poll was conducted before the firing of probationary Federal Aviation Administration employees, but at least some of the shift is likely related to the change in presidential administration, from Joe Biden, a Democrat, to Trump.
In January 2024, when Biden was still president, about 7 in 10 Democrats said they had high confidence in federal government agencies to maintain air safety. Now only 6 in 10 Democrats say that. Independents' confidence also declined, while Republicans' opinions did not move.
The poll found that U.S. adults' confidence in pilots and commercial airlines remains unchanged. About 8 in 10 U.S. adults have a high level of confidence in pilots, and about three-quarters say that about commercial airlines.
The AP-NORC poll of 1,112 adults was conducted Feb. 6-10, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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